Lemon Lime Meltaway Cookies

Do cookie recipes ever put you off because they yield too many cookies? Sure, for a party or if you’re feeling generous to co-workers, baking 5 or 6 dozen cookies might be the thing to do. I, however, own only one baking sheet. This guarantees that only a certain volume of cookies are ever made at one go in this house. I know, I should get another cookie sheet. But people, I am moving, and I am not about to add to the mountain of items that I must pack.

Enter this cookie recipe. I started tinkering with meltaway cookies last weekend. I wanted some sweet, citrusy, and green for St. Patrick’s Day. I was also trying to use up my powdered sugar and cornstarch to help clean out the pantry, so they seemed to be the thing to do. After making the batter, though, I realized I was going to have a LOT of cookies. Like, 5 of 6 dozen cookies! So, I decided make one cookie-sheet-full and freeze the rest of the dough in nice, sliceable logs. I ended up with three logs. So, I baked the first one and promptly burned the cookies to a crisp. (Note to self: reduce temperature). Instead of throwing my usual tantrum, I calmly lowered the temperature, walked over to the freezer, and grabbed another log. After slicing the lovelies up, I baked them at the cooler temp and kept my eye on them. This time, meltingly tender, tart cookies. We pretty much destroyed them in a single night.

Well, oops. Those cookies were supposed to go to work. So, Tuesday morning I grabbed the third log, sliced it up, and baked cookies while doing my morning glance over the New York Times. I am a zombie in the a.m., so this should tell you how easy it was. And that is what rocked my face off about these cookies. You can freeze the dough, and then make cookies whenever the mood strikes. One baking sheet at a time, even. SUPER.

Lemon Lime Meltaway Cookies

2 sticks butter, room temperature

3/4 C powdered sugar

zest of one lemon

zest of two limes

1 T lemon juice

1 T lime juice

1 tsp vanilla

2 C flour, sifted

1/4 C cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

green and yellow food coloring

Assemble all ingredients. I like to place the butter and sugar in one large mixing bowl; in a small second bowl stir together the zests, juices, and vanilla; and in a medium bowl combine the flour, cornstarch, and salt. Start this way, and the recipe will come together very easily. Cream the butter and sugar together until it is soft and fluffy. Then, continue mixing as you slowly pour in the contents from your bowl of flavor. Keep mixing until this is well-combined – you don’t want juice pooling at the bottom of the batter. Help it along with a spatula. Then, slowly start mixing in the flour blend. Mix until everything is fully combined, and then color your cookies if you like.

To achieve the pale, lime-green pictured, I used 5 drops of green color, and 3 drops yellow. When the color is even, shape the dough into three logs, each about 1 1/2″ in diameter. Roll them on parchment paper, then wrap them well and freeze them for an hour.

Preheat your oven to 350º. Remove the chilled logs of dough from the freezer, and slice into 1/4″ thick rounds. Line your cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet, and space the cookies about and inch apart. They won’t spread, so you can get a little closer if needed. Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes, watching them carefully after 10. The cookies should not brown at all, and should provide a good deal of resistence if you press your finger in one to test.

To serve, sift additional powdered sugar over the still-warm cookies. These would also be lovely with a simple glaze drizzled over them.

It is a very firm dough when you bring it out of the fridge or freezer, so I suppose you could cut it with cookie cutters. I think rolling it into a log and slicing it into rounds works best, because the dough is burns very easily. Shapes with points or areas that thin out could be hard to bake evenly.

This is my first time to your blog. Found this recipe when searching foodblogsearch for a recipe using the zest and juice of one lemon and two limes. I had never made meltaway cookies before. These are fabulous. I ate them straight out of the oven so they were a little crumbly. Next time I’ll let them cool longer. Delicious! :)